Date on Senior Honors Thesis

5-2026

Document Type

Senior Thesis

Cooperating University

University of Louisville

Department (Legacy)

Department of Fine Arts

Committee Chair

Christopher Reitz

Committee Member

Ben Cook

Committee Member

Joseph Turner

Author's Keywords

Death; Decay; Cycles; Art; Painting; Creative Thesis

Abstract

This creative thesis discusses how art has failed to depict death through the promise of an ideal or an absolute, which is why my speculative solution is to create art that builds out the spectrum of nuance not currently found. I critique the idea of death as a precise moment instead of a network of changes; in understanding death to be an endpoint, the function of death within larger cyclical processes is lost. Through the analysis of the Memento Mori genres of historical and contemporary art work, a methodology is created which informs the creation of a pair of paintings utilizing the visual process of change associated with death, decay. Through this visual depiction of the cycle of decay, three themes are considered: mental health struggles, environmental sustainability, and activism.

Lay Summary

This project focuses on depictions of death within art and the arguments those art pieces take on how humans understand death. I counter these arguments, pointing to the lack of nuance they provide as their flaw. From this analysis I develop a possible solution, to create art focusing on the changes associated with death, specifically decay.  This project then focuses on applying the solution to the creation of two art pieces, detailing the process and choices within these works. It also serves to provide insight into the themes and meanings thought on for each piece, using decay to point to the nuances of mental health struggles, environmental devastation, and activism.

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